Oakcliff Triple Crown Series to provide $500K in Grants to Olympic Sailing Hopefuls

US Olympic hopefuls training in double handed classes in early 2017 © Jen Edney / US Sailing

Oakcliff Sailing have announced the Oakcliff Triple Crown Series, a groundbreaking plan to reward athletes for their hard work and provide significant financial resources to assist them in achieving Olympic success.

The Triple Crown Series will consist of up to six regattas to be held annually in Oyster Bay, New York, and will offer both international and American athletes in five of the ten Olympic Classes a chance to win prize grants. Sailors in the 49er, 49erFX, Men's 470, Women's 470 and Nacra 17s will race for $100,000 in each class for a total of $500,000 annually. There will also be opportunities to win additional bonuses.

The grants are to be used by the winning sailors to fund expenses associated with Olympic campaigns. The series represents an unprecedented effort to relieve some of the fundraising challenges that typically burden U.S. Olympic hopefuls while simultaneously providing new opportunities to hone high-performance racing skills.

The series will consist of three qualifier regattas each spring which will give winners an entry into each of the three prize grant regattas. These will be held in late summer and will include qualified and invited teams.

The distribution of prize grants will evolve over the four-year Olympic cycle. Early in the quadrennium, the prize grants will be spread widely across the fleets. Closer to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the top two series finishers in each class will receive the bulk of the prize grant funds.

"My first response is just "Wow!" This Triple Crown Series is just incredibly generous," said Rio 2016 Olympian and 2009 US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Bora Gulari (Detroit, Mich.) "To help US Olympic sailors with regattas that matter here at home and to bring the bring the best in the world to us is nothing but positive. Having the ability to do well and to be able to win funds to help us continue to race hard is a double bonus. This is just really impressive!"

"The Oakcliff Triple Crown Series will not only provide U.S. athletes with an opportunity to win resources vital to achieving their dreams, but will give young sailors more chances to compete in Olympic classes against top international competition," said Malcolm Page, Chief of U.S. Olympic Sailing. "Once again, Oakcliff Sailing is demonstrating leadership in fostering high performance sailing in the U.S., and our national team athletes are very excited for this new opportunity."

After becoming a US Sailing Team National Training Center in 2013, Oakcliff Sailing invested in a substantial number of Olympic-class boats, primarily stored and raced in Oyster Bay. These fleets of dinghies and skiffs will make up the backbone of the Triple Crown Series by offering readily available chartering opportunities to both international sailors and American athletes new to this level of competition.

"Raising the level of competitive excellence in the U.S. is at the core of Oakcliff's mission," said Dawn Riley, Executive Director of Oakcliff Sailing. "By creating the Triple Crown Series, we hope to help revitalize high-performance one-design racing here at home, and provide real benefits to Tokyo medal hopefuls and first-time campaigners alike."

For more information about the Oakcliff Triple Crown Series, please reference the Announcement of Series and Notice of Race.

About Oakcliff Sailing

Founded in 2010 by Hunt and Betsy Lawrence in order to raise the caliber of sailing in the United States, Oakcliff Sailing has added programming each year from Offshore Racing to High Performance as well as Inshore Match Racing, On Board Reporting and Foiling Camp. Based on the North Shore of Long Island, just outside of New York City, Oakcliff boasts an expert group of coaches, industry leaders, and alumni. Oakcliff Sailing is one of the best sailing centers in the world. Sailors at Oakcliff have access to over a hundred boats, including the largest worldwide fleets of Nacra 17s, 49ers, 49er FXs, and Swedish Match 40s. In addition to a fantastic fleet, a sail loft, and a workshop, the clinics and coaching at Oakcliff Sailing are also unparalleled. For more information on Oakcliff, please visit www.oakcliffsailing.org